


Patterns of Play

by LadySeishou



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Improv, M/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-14
Updated: 2004-12-14
Packaged: 2017-11-14 14:16:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/516101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadySeishou/pseuds/LadySeishou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shindou and Touya are invited to participate in exhibition games in China where Shindou is approached by Yang Hai to test a new kind of computer program...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Patterns of Play

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for for the Go-Luv Forum (unfortunately now 404) in honor of Akira's 18th birthday. It is an improv fic in that I used five random items suggested by forum members (in this case batka, Kiya-Sama, Nawlins7, veatariel and Aozora-chan). Can you guess the prompts?

 

The creative mind  
plays with the objects  
it loves. 

\- Carl Jung 

 

 

The games were about to begin. 

Any minute now. 

And Shindou was lost. 

Actually, he had finally found the game room. At least he thought it was the game room. There were people here and they were playing but… 

The Zhongguo Qiyuan was a pretty big place. And like the Japanese Go Institute, the Chinese Institute had rooms for playing and rooms for discussion and even more rooms for instruction but here they also had cafeterias and dormitories and lounges and… 

He looked again at the paper in his hand. It was suppose to be the name of his opponent. He tried mouthing the syllables again. Maybe he could ask someone and they would point the player out to him… 

“Shindou-kun!” 

A large, warm hand fell on his shoulder from behind and Shindou bit his tongue in surprise. 

“Itai…” Shindou glanced warily over his shoulder and suddenly smiled. “Yang-san!” 

“Yeah! You didn’t think that I would miss the chance to say hello and wish you luck did you?” 

“Li-sensei said that you were away.” Shindou had been looking forward to seeing the captain of the Chinese team for the Hokuto Tournament again and had been disappointed when he was told that Yang Hai was still away playing in a tournament in Shanghai. It had been two years since their first meeting in Japan but afterwards Shindou had developed a friendship of a kind over internet games with the affable and multi lingual Chinese pro. 

Yang smiled back before glancing around Shindou at the room behind him. “Just got back an hour ago. I’ll show you the game later if you want. Where’s Kurata-san?” 

“He couldn’t come this time.” Shindou imagined his ears still ringing after listening to the larger-than-life pro yelling about the game schedule conflict. “Touya was able to come in his place…” 

“Touya-kun? He’s here too?” 

“Yeah. But he’s playing Wang Xin right now. Somewhere around here…” 

“They’re probably in a room upstairs. Aren’t you scheduled to play now too?” 

“Yeah, I am but…” Shindou handed the paper to Yang with an abashed grin. 

Reading the name, Yang sighed. “I better see that you get there cause your opponent is someone who doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” 

“Who…?” Shindou started to ask but Yang only turned on his heel and began to shoulder his way through the small gathering of reporters and onlookers, leaving Shindou to follow in his wake. As the Chinese pro strutted between aisles of tables, several players nodded greeting but Yang did not seem to take notice, his eyes only on the far side of the room. 

Looking there too, Shindou suddenly spotted Li-sensei, the headmaster of the Weiqi School. He looked like he was speaking to a young man and a small, delicate looking woman, mopping his forehead with a white handkerchief. As Shindou and Yang came closer, Shindou could hear some of the conversation but couldn’t understand anything of what was being said. 

Except for his name. 

Yang stopped some paces short and glanced furtively back at Shindou. “Oh man, this could be bad…” he said, eyes wide. 

Shindou peeked cautiously beyond Yang’s shoulder. “Why? What’s wrong? I’m only a little late, right?” But the two men did look worried and the woman looked… pleased? 

That was until she saw Yang and Shindou… and Shindou decided that there was something very scary about the girl, something that made the skin on the back of his neck itch uneasily. She said something fast and sharp to Yang who only held his hands up in a gesture of placation, saying something defensive in response. She stared back at Shindou with some appraisal and asked something after her long look. 

Shindou looked back and tried smiling. “Yang-san, am I in trouble?” 

The girl smiled back but the expression seem to promise both pain and pleasure. 

Yang turned just enough so that he was facing Shindou while keeping a wary eye on the girl at the same time. “Shindou-san, I would like to introduce you to Hui Ying.” 

Shindou nodded his head, keeping his eyes on the girl’s face. “I am Shindou,” he answered in Japanese. “Please treat me kindly.” 

Hui Ying nodded politely in acknowledgement. “Nice meeting.” 

Shindou’s eyebrows raised questioningly. “You speak Japanese?” 

“Little. Yang teach.” Hui Ying pointed at Yang and then spoke something very fast in Chinese that brought a heated blush to Yang’s face. 

Shindou wasn’t sure that he wanted to know but he asked anyway. “What did she say?” 

“Uh… well mostly that I’m in trouble.” 

“You are?” 

“Yeah. Hui Ying thinks that I’ve been distracting you with… well… that I brought you late on purpose.” 

“Huh? Why would she think that?” Shindou noted that the girl was now tapping her foot impatiently, looking up at Yang through glittering, half-shuttered eyes. 

“Uh… I’ll tell you later. You should start your game I think.” 

Shindou looked back at the young man standing unobtrusively at Li-sensei’s side. Apparently he’d been watching Yang’s and Ying’s exchange with a “better you than me” look the whole time. “Okay. I’m ready whenever he is.” 

“That guy?” Yang followed Shindou’s glance and shook his head, amused. “No, you’re not playing Chao Wu. He’s not at your level. Your opponent is Hui Ying.” And he gestured at the girl who batted his hand away with a loud, impatient slap. 

Shindou swallowed heavily and looked back at Yang who was now ruefully rubbing feeling back into his hand. “Ah… okay. Umm... where do we…?” 

Yang turned and nodded with his head. “Over there.” Shindou saw that the girl, Hui Ying, was already seating herself at the go board, pulling a covered bowl of stones within a hand’s reach. 

“Oh, okay. Good.” Shindou took a deep, calming breath and reached inside his suit coat for his fan. Usually, the feel of it in his hand was a way to focus his concentration, a reminder of his teacher and the games they had played. But now he was wondering if it might not also be used to block any more blows that might come his way as he watched Yang suck on his injured hand. 

“Hey Shindou,” Yang muttered around his knuckle. “Come by my room after the game. Room 303. I should be there. We can talk about the game and there’s something else I want to show you. Bring Touya-kun too.” 

Shindou nodded wordlessly, his mind now on the game ahead and he looked across the board at Hui Ying with serious eyes. 

Yang nodded in turn, discretely motioning at the girl. “Don’t underestimate her Shindou. She’s good. Very good. And she likes to fight.” He chuckled dryly. “She likes to be the one on top.” 

Shindou ignored Yang’s joke, paying him no more attention. It was time to play. 

 

* * * * * 

 

Shindou glanced again at the number on the door…303… and knocked several times unsure if the sound could be heard over the loud music inside. He waited a minute more and then used his fist to pound harder, blows that shook the door in its frame. 

The door opened and the music was even louder. Yang looked out at Shindou while biting messily into a half-eaten sandwich. He had on a yellow shirt that Shindou had seen him wearing earlier but now just wore wear a pair of baggy boxer shorts underneath. 

“Good evening?” Shindou shouted. 

Yang finished chewing and smiled, waving at the door with the sandwich. “You found the place?” he shouted back. 

“What?” Shindou saw that Yang was pointing at the number on the door. “Yeah. After I got someone to tell me where the dormitory was,” he yelled back, covering his ears with his hands. 

“Come on in.” Several doors were opening along the hallway. 

“What?” 

“Come on in.” And Yang grabbed Shindou’s shoulder, pulling him into the room. He left Shindou by the door while he turned down the music. “Great metal group but their stuff can only be really appreciated at concert levels… not so good for conversation though.” He smiled ruefully. “Come on in and sit anywhere.” He shoved a pile of books and papers off the end of one of the two beds in the room. “How about here? Want anything to drink? Something to eat?” he offered, holding out the remains of the sandwich. 

Shindou eyed the sandwich and shook his head, taking off his suit coat before sitting down on the bed, next to a stack of clean socks. At least he hoped they were clean. “Water would be okay,” he said. Maybe, he thought. He loosened his tie. 

“I can do better than that for the guy that beat Hui Ying. And by five points, he says with a certain admiration. Not an easy thing to do, my friend.” Yang opened a small refrigerator and pulled out two cans of beer, tossing one to Shindou. “And I better warn you, Hui Ying doesn’t take losing well. She’ll be looking for you and want a rematch. Actually, I’m surprised that she let you get away with your skin intact.” 

Shindou suspected the girl was trying to ask him for a rematch after their game finished but he managed to tell her that he had to go look for his friend from Japan who was playing Wang Xi. Just the mention of Wang’s name brought a quiet, thoughtful look to her face and she nodded, pointing to the stairs that led to another playing room. But Shindou discovered that both Touya and Wang Xi had finished playing and had already gone. No one there knew enough Japanese to tell him where.

Not for the first time since that morning, Shindou fingered his dead cell phone. With no way to call Touya directly, Shindou had to leave a message for him at their hotel. 

There was a popping sound and Yang began cursing under his breath as he looked for another towel to mop at his wet shirt, taking a long drink from the foaming can then pulling out a chair that rolled easily over the papers covering floor. He sat at his computer, turning it on. Shindou recognized the game on the display as the one that he had just played. 

Shindou set his unopened beer on the floor. “How did you get that so fast?” He crossed the room to stand behind Yang. 

“We have our ways Shindou-kun,” Yang answered jovially. He moved the mouse again and highlighted a group of stones on the game board. “I like this. I really like this. Hui Ying never saw it coming.” 

“I wasn’t so sure it would work,” Shindou admitted. “It all depended on how she was going to play the group down here.” He pointed to the lower right corner of the board. “And you were right. She plays very aggressively. But so do I. And I play someone pretty regularly that plays aggressively too.” Shindou nodded, imagining how Touya would have answered several of the hands he played during the game. 

“You’re talking about Touya-kun right?” 

Shindou nodded. “I was suppose to meet up with him after we finished our games today but no one seems to know where he is.” 

“I wouldn’t worry Shindou-kun.” Yang highlighted another set of stones and pressed a key that made the board and the rest of the stones disappear. “ I’m sure that Wang Xi will take care of Touya-sensei’s son and keep him out of trouble.” He shrugged easily and tapped several more keys. 

“Yeah, I suppose. But…” 

“Ah… don’t worry, don’t worry. Look at this instead.” 

Shindou watched, as the remaining group of stones on the monitor rotated on an invisible axis so that the original configuration looked liked it was laying on its side. 

“Recognize it?” 

“Yeah. White was trying to kill this group,” Shindou fingered a group of six black stones. “But I managed to make a seki in sente here.” He pointed to four additional stones. 

“Yeah, you may call that a seki but… with a little imagination… to me I see the classic ‘yugmapada’. And here I hadn’t found a practical game example for my database until today.” Shindou watched as Yang typed some more on his keyboard, writing a string of characters and numbers into a large table of similar random looking characters and numbers. He thought he could make out something that might have been the date… 

“Yugma? Pada? Is that what the Chinese call a seki?” he finally asked, uncertainly. 

Yang pressed the “enter” button with a certain happy flourish before chuckling good-naturedly. “No, no Shindou-kun. Not a seki. All of this. All of these stones. The black in relationship to the white. The white in relationship to the black. I call this a good example of the ‘yugmapada’ position. It means ‘foot yoke.’” 

“Foot yoke? I haven’t heard of that joseki before.” 

“No, not a sequence of moves either. Well, not exactly.” Yang shook his head as he reached for a tall book marked in many places with an odd assortment of papers. “Something more like shape… katachi, right? But for both black and white and with potential probabilities built in based on area and territory algorithms.” 

“Huh?” 

Yang opened the book and began to flip through its pages. “Look closer at the stones, Shindou-kun. What do you see?” 

Shindou ran his hand through his hair and stared at the stones on the screen. “Uh… I see a seki. And a count of ten points.” 

“You’re not using your imagination! See this line here?” Yang closed the book, marking his place with his hand and pointed to the monitor with the other. “Can you see a leg here? Folded? And here? The other leg stretched out. And here? See how White mirrors Black along here?” 

“I guess…,” Shindou reluctantly admitted. 

“And here… where White invades Black’s position…” 

“Okay…” 

Yang sighed. “All great insight is never understood. Maybe if I showed you the original illustration…” He flipped open the book then, offering it up as incontrovertible proof… 

What Shindou saw was a picture of a man and woman screwing around. He pushed it away with a snort. “You need to get out more Yang-san. Maybe get a real girl friend.” 

Yang’s face fell, disappointed. He shook his head sadly. “Shindou, I show you but you do not see. I’m developing a new computational algorithm to assign a quantitative value for the normally indefinable… until now… influence of territory and area. In other words a moyo assessment module for a new AI game engine.” He paused, gauging Shindou’s comprehension. Shindou stared back at him with the tolerant look of someone humoring an idiot. He sighed. “Okay, look at it this way… I’m defining a hard number value for the potential territory of certain play patterns and shapes that resemble the sixty-four arts of the karma sutra.” 

“Karma sutra?” 

Yang closed the book and held it up, cover facing Shindou. “The Karma Sutra? The ancient Indian study of erotic love? That karma sutra.” 

“You’re comparing Go to porn?” Shindou stared back at Yang with disbelief, a fleeting look that spoke of professional betrayal. Then his eyes narrowed and he smiled. “Oh, I get it.” Shindou began to laugh. “It’s a joke, right? A joke! I like that… in the middle of reviewing a game, you pull that book out and start flashing some pictures, asking everyone if the game record looks like two people screwing each other… ha ha ha ha…” 

It was a minute or two before Shindou realized that Yang wasn’t laughing with him. Or even smiling. 

“Yang-san?” 

“Shindou, I had hoped… after some of our games we’ve played… I wanted you to understand…” 

Shindou looked back at the stones on the computer monitor and rubbed the back of his head with a hand. “Understand what Yang-san?” 

Yang turned in his chair to fully face Shindou, urging Shindou to take the book. “This book Shindou… this philosophy… can be dated back to the seventh century BC, written down by the sage Vatsyayana sometime between the first and sixth century AD. The text describes one of the three ‘necessities’ that the ancient Indian people considered necessary for life itself: survival, existence and the rules for coexistence. Doesn’t that already sound a lot like Go? As a player, you follow a set of rules that define how you coexist with your opponent on the board. As you fight to survive. To ensure your continuing existence. On the board.” 

“But Yang-san, doesn’t that describe a lot of things?” 

“Precisely, Shindou-kun! And isn’t it generally true that the more universally something can be applied, whether it’s an idea or a methodology, the more * real * it might be? The closer that it is to its true form? One might even consider this perfect form, this perfect game, kami no itte, the hand of God.” 

Shindou eyed the book he held skeptically. “I don’t know Yang-san. This all seems pretty weird…” 

Yang looked down at his hands resting on his knees. “Yeah, I know that Shindou-kun. But so far we’ve gotten some pretty amazing results. The game engine that we’re working on now is maybe ten times stronger than it was before we programmed it with the algorithm. And it keeps getting stronger, the more positions I code into it.” He reached over then and pressed some keys so that a bewildering list of numbers and diagrams flashed across the screen. 

“What we’re trying to do here, what we might accomplish with our AI may prove to be more powerful than anything that exists today. Theory or emulation. And as beyond any of it as this computer is technologically beyond… ” He picked up an old looking abacus sitting on a nearby shelf, “my great grandfather’s abacus. We could be looking at the difference here between super computers and beads on sticks.” 

“So you have the book.” Shindou thumbed through several pages, somewhat intrigued. “Why don’t you just put all the rest of them all in? Finish it.” He studied one position printed across two pages and felt himself blushing. 

“Well for one thing…” Yang turned back around to tap at his keyboard again and ten different board patterns came up on the monitor. “It’s also a matter of… umm… fine tuning it I guess you could say. I try to cross-reference the patterns based on similar positions from the book with real games. Sometimes testing the game engine itself against real players…” 

“Have I ever played against this game engine of yours?” Shindou turned to another page, a picture of a well-endowed man mounting his partner from behind… 

“Actually, you have,” Yang admitted easily. “Several times. Not the whole game of course. The engine isn’t that strong yet. But the last time we played on the Keisido server, I let the game run through the first fifty or so moves by itself. I’ve gotten some of my best results so far Shindou-kun, playing the engine against you.” 

“Oh.” Shindou closed the book. He wasn’t sure how he felt about playing Go against some computer program. Even one that used sex pictures. He blushed again. 

“Actually Shindou-kun, I was wondering if you might consider playing a game against the AI. Now. Tonight. Maybe writing down some of your impressions as you play. What you were thinking about as you play…” 

“I don’t know Yang-san. I’m suppose to meet Touya.” 

“Touya-kun is still probably with Wang Xin.” 

Shindou nodded slowly. “I guess.” 

“Why not play my game engine for a while. At least while you wait?” 

“I suppose.” 

“That’s great Shindou-kun!” Yang began typing a rapid pattern out on the keyboard. “I’m going to set it up all for you here. Sign onto the server the usual way. You just need to look for a player called ‘Nandi.’” 

“Nandi?” 

“Nandi was Shiva’s companion. Umm… well I guess you could say that he was… well, he was suppose to be a bull. Horns… tail… all of that. A god-like bull anyway. Nandi recorded the first arts of the karma sutra as he watched Shiva make love with his consort Parvati.” 

“Oh.” Shindou decided then that things were going from weird to really strange. He had agreed to play Go against a sexed up Go program that used some kind of rules based on the tales of a voyeuristic bull. A half-grin came to Shindou’s face though as he thought of Sai. It was possible, maybe, that Sai would have enjoyed something like this, playing ‘Nandi’ and helping Yang-san’s computer game become stronger. 

Yang stood up and invited Shindou to take his seat at the computer. He reached around Shindou to move the mouse, clicking on several boxes that ran along the Go server window. “Just type anything that you want here…” Yang highlighted a box for text. “The game shell will keep track of the moves and if you click this box…” 

Suddenly an image from the book was superimposed over the game board. Yang clicked on it, dragging the mouse this way and that, shrinking and growing the image then rotating it through a complete 360 degrees. “It would really help me out a lot if you’d also make a note of the position as you play. I’ve listed all ten that I’ve coded with their names here but you can access all sixty-four by typing the number in this box.” He typed in several examples and Shindou watched with some discomfort as each image filled the screen. 

“You never know when you might get lucky and come across a new pattern.” 

“I guess.” 

Yang then left him to sift through some of the clothes piled on the bed, coming across a pair of pants. “I’m going to go find an open terminal.” 

“Wait a minute!” Shindou jumped up from the chair and it spun around several times before running into the edge of the desk. “You’re not staying?” 

“No. I’m going to sign on and observe the game from another computer.” Yang reached over the chair to grab up a pair of sunglasses that he slid onto his face, perching the expensive looking eyewear on the tip of his nose. “If I stay here, I might inadvertently influence your game Shindou-kun. And I want your game and your notes to be as objective as possible.” 

“But…” 

Someone knocked on the door and Yang held up his hand, postponing Shindou’s argument. He walked over to the door quietly and opened it a crack, peeking at his visitor on the other side. Shindou hoped somehow that it was Touya, coming to rescue him from this crazy experiment. 

But whoever it was had no patience for Yang’s careful observation, pushing the door open so that it hit Yang on the nose. His sunglasses clattered noisily to the floor. A flood of Chinese followed, something that sounded offended and aggrieved by Yang’s precautions. 

It was Hui Ying. 

Shindou turned quickly to the computer, pushing keys and clicking on boxes, trying to get rid of the explicit images on the screen. Somehow, he ended up making it worse as two then four images came up, all rotating and spinning around on the screen. 

Yang started to argue with Ying who now spied Shindou at the computer. 

“Stop.” Hui Ying was suddenly there at Shindou’s side, reaching around him, taking control of the mouse. She clicked on several boxes, shrinking all the images until only a number was discretely displayed on the task bar along the bottom of the screen. 

“Thanks,” Shindou mumbled, mortified. It had to look like he and Yang had been spending their time looking at porn sites… 

“No problem. Okay now. Move please.” 

Shindou stepped away from the computer as Hui Ying sat down in the chair and began to type at the keyboard. Shindou recognized their game as it came up again. Then one of the karma sutra pictures… 

Not the “foot yoke” Shindou noticed, but another one. Hui Ying spoke again with Yang who answered by shaking his head as he picked his sunglasses up off the floor. 

“Uh… as you might have noticed Shindou-kun… Hui Ying is also working on the algorithm with me.” Yang walked over to where his partner sat typing more instructions and leaned down low to speak into her ear, massaging her shoulder placatingly with his hand. Hui Ying stopped her work and turned to look over at Shindou, a speculative gleam in her eyes. 

“You play?” she asked sweetly. 

Shindou nodded, muted by embarrassment.

But then again… Well, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t… Or more that he did… But… 

He nodded again before scrubbing his face with his hands, wondering how things could get any weirder. 

 

* * * * * 

 

Shindou typed in his next move and waited for “Nandi’s” response. They were into middle game now and Shindou wondered, again, if he was playing the AI or Yang. It was possible that he was playing Hui Ying. Or maybe all three of them together. 

He was also having trouble concentrating as someone, Yang probably, had programmed the computer to flash random images of sexual positions on the screen. While he was playing. And it wasn’t so much that the images themselves were distracting… he was getting somewhat use to them… but it was more the other thoughts that the positions brought to mind, another partner… that he was having a hard time ignoring. 

Shindou eyed the board sourly and decided to try typing in a comment on the keyboard… 

rhino-boy: weak formation in upper left corner. peep? 

He frowned at the response… 

nandi: only noticing that now rhino-boy? pay attention! you’re making this too easy. 

nandi: or is it that we’re making it too hard for you? 

“Nandi’s” move finally came up on the game board. A move that reinforced the upper left corner. Shindou growled and typed in his next move. 

rhino-boy: take that bull-boy. your group on the lower left is mine! 

nandi: yes, it looks like it. nandi has already calculated a 5-point lead for you. 

rhino-boy: only 5? more like 7. 

nandi: so can you tell me if 12 is a better match for the group there? 

rhino-boy: 12? 

nandi: type 12 in the ID box. 

rhino-boy: ok. 

Shindou typed in the number “12” and a naked couple appeared on his screen, the image ghost like, floating over the game board. He found that it was less embarrassing analyzing the erotic pictures when he looked at them as a set of separate body parts… legs, arms, heads... He clicked on the image, a position called the “knot of fame” and lined it up over the stones. Flipping the picture a quarter turn and shrinking it a little, he could see how it was possible to map the stones this way… white stones stretching out in straight lines like legs, matching black’s group, a triangular formation called the “tiger’s mouth”… 

It was a lot like the image… a man sitting, legs stretched out in front of him, the other sitting across his lap… vulnerability inviting invasion… 

Damn. Now he was getting hard. Really hard. It was getting impossible not to think about Touya sitting on his lap like that. Maybe even while they were playing… 

nandi: does that work for you? 

Shindou’s face grew warm. He shifted uneasily in his chair and pressed his hands over his eyes, trying to focus himself before typing… 

rhino-boy: it’s not bad. 

nandi: good. then we get a better read for your point lead. 6.5 

rhino-boy: okay. what now? 

nandi: it’s your turn. pay attention. 

“Shit.” Shindou had missed the computer’s move, an invasion of his group in the lower right side. It was a pretty aggressive move, overly ambitious and Shindou saw how it might work but “Nandi” or more probably Hui Ying had overlooked his new thickness on the lower side. He typed in his next move. 

nandi: ouch and you should read that literally. hui ling just punched me 

rhino-boy: too deep. 

nandi: the invasion? 

rhino-boy: yeah. what else? 

nandi: good to know. nandi just learned that your group is too thick to make a deep invasion work. 

Shindou blinked and then grinned before typing… 

rhino-boy: are you saying that size matters? 

nandi: lol. see why we got started on this line of research in the first place? 

rhino-boy: probably more that hui ying caught you looking at porn sites one night. 

nandi: yes. he look. 

rhino-boy: hui ying? 

nandi: yes. me. 

rhino-boy: what do you think of white starting a ko at 3,5? 

nandi: 4 

rhino-boy: what? 

nandi: hui ling wants you to check position number 4. Type 4 in the ID box. 

rhino-boy: the dog? 

nandi: try 12 again. 

Shindou typed the number in the box just before he heard a discrete rapping on Yang’s door. 

rhino-boy: someone’s at your door. 

nandi: so answer it. hui ying is still thinking about that ko. 

rhino-boy: brb 

Shindou opened the door, catching his visitor mid knock. “Touya!” It was kind of a shock to see Touya standing there, so close after his fantasy. He realized that his mouth was hanging open and he shut it with a sheepish grin. 

“Shindou!” Touya let his hand fall to his side and blinked with surprise. “Isn’t this Yang-san’s room?” 

“Yeah, it is but he’s… Didn’t you get my message at the hotel?” 

“No, I haven’t been back to the hotel. And what’s wrong with your cell phone?” 

“Uh… I forgot to charge it last night,” Shindou admitted reluctantly. “Where have you been?” 

“I’ve been playing Go with Wang Hui. Then we were reviewing the game afterwards. His strength is very similar to father’s. Then someone brought me a note that said to come to Yang-san’s room.” 

“A note? To come here? Wait a minute…” Shindou left Touya at the door and sat back down at the computer again. 

rhino-boy: did you send touya a note? 

nandi: note? 

rhino-boy: touya’s here. 

nandi: good. now we play pair-go. 

Shindou heard Touya come into the room and close the door. “Don’t get too comfortable Touya. We’re going.” 

“Isn’t Yang-san here? What are you doing?” Touya stood now at his shoulder, his suit coat folded over his arm. 

rhino-boy: so you knew where touya was all this time? 

“Rhino-boy, Shindou? Rhino? Like rhinoceros? I thought that you played online as… Wait a minute…” 

nandi: didn’t know. asked around. 

rhino-boy: hope you got enough data. leaving now. 

nandi: finish the game. at least finish the ko fight. 

“Isn’t rhinoceros the English word for…” 

Sai. He knew the name was risky. Shindou needed to distract Touya and quickly typed in the number 12 in the ID box again. Instead of a small, ghostly thing this time, the full image filled the screen. In all its fleshy colors. 

“Interesting move, Shindou.” Touya smirked. 

“It’s called kir-ti-band-ha,” Shindou read from the task bar, happy that the image gave Touya something new to think about. 

“Excuse me?” 

“Ah… I guess that translates as ‘the knot of fame.’” 

“New strategy Shindou? Are you hoping to distract your opponent with pornography? Isn’t this a bit of overkill? This Nandi isn’t very strong but then again you’re playing terrible Go. The worse that I’ve ever seen…” 

“Nandi isn’t a person Touya. It’s a computer program. I think.” Shindou moved the mouse, shrinking the image. The game board reappeared. 

“What do you mean that you think?” 

“I mean that Yang-san and a player named Hui Ying wrote this new computer program that’s suppose to play Go using patterns based on uh… positions…” 

“Positions?” 

“Ah… yeah… positions from the karma sutra.” Shindou watched Touya carefully for his reaction. But he didn’t look as shocked as Shindou thought he might have been. 

“The karma sutra? Isn’t that...?”

“Yeah.” Shindou reached over and picked up the book that Yang had shown him earlier, handing it over to Touya. “The Karma Sutra.” 

Touya thumbed through the book, stopping briefly at each marked page. Shindou continued typing on the keyboard. 

nandi: hui ying wants to make you an offer… 

rhino-boy: not interested. 

nandi: you win the ko fight, nandi resigns and you leave. 

rhino-boy: leaving anyway. 

nandi: but hui ying will acknowledge your strength and leave you alone for the rest of the exhibition. 

Shindou considered the deal. It certainly had some merit. Shindou was sure that Hui Ying could be very persistent and he and Touya weren’t scheduled to leave for another two days. And besides the ko fight was already a sure thing.

rhino-boy: ok. just the ko fight. 

nandi: but if nandi wins the fight then you stay and finish the game. 

rhino-boy: nandi or hui ying? 

nandi: does it matter? 

Shindou considered that briefly, shaking his head. 

rhino-boy: no. you got a deal. 

Touya put the book back down on the desk and studied the screen. He dropped his coat over the back of Shindou’s chair and took the mouse from Shindou, clicking on the dialog box. He scrolled slowly through the dialog between “Rhino-boy” and “Nandi.” 

Shindou studied his profile in turn, wondering what it was that Touya nodded to himself about as he read through the messages. 

“An interesting theory.” Touya gave the mouse back to Shindou. 

“Seems pretty weird to me.” 

“It’s your turn Shindou. I’m assuming that you’re going after the group in the lower right.” 

“Yeah. But I don’t want it to become a capturing race.” Shindou typed in his next move. 

nandi: not bad. can you check to see if 17 fits? 

“Seventeen?” Touya asked. His hip leaned into Shindou’s shoulder as he read the screen. 

“Yeah, he’s asking me to see if the group here looks like this…” Shindou keyed in the number and a new image appeared. This time it was a young man sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him, kissing the shoulder of a young woman, sitting on his lap. Facing away from her partner, the woman discretely stimulated herself while the man entered her from behind. 

“The mare’s position?” Touya read aloud. 

“I guess. I suppose Yang-san thinks that the stones here look like that girl’s leg bent back like that and he’s assuming that I’m going to invade here.” Shindou pointed to an eyeless group of stones, a simple framework that his opponent hadn’t developed into real territory. Yet. 

“Ah… but your aim is really the group in the upper right corner.” 

Shindou grunted assent not very happy that his plans were so predictable. But it was Touya… 

Touya leaned down closer to the screen. “Nandi answered the ko.” 

“Yeah, I was expecting that.” Shindou typed in his next move. 

nandi: predicting five points. If you win the ko. 

“That’s too much,” Touya observed. “I read three at best.” 

“Yeah, I think so too.” 

rhino-boy: your estimate is too high. 

nandi: try 23 then. 

Touya had already reached around Shindou, his long fingers tapping neatly over the keyboard. The new image showed the male leaning into his partner, her legs raised, pressing up against her lover’s chest. 

Shindou nodded. “Maybe. What do you think Touya?” 

“Perhaps a better match of the final shape. After the ko is finished.” Touya leaned down toward the monitor, his right arm sliding across Shindou’s shoulders and back as he gestured with his hand. “I assume that the woman’s legs in this position look like white’s group there and here.” 

Shindou smelled the mild scent of the soap Touya used for his bath. The weight of his arm was warm and strong and it was hard not to think of Touya’s naked arms and legs… shiny and slick with water as he climbed out of the tub that morning. It was a pleasant memory and he floated with it, letting his hand wander, finding Touya’s upper thigh, tenderly squeezing the muscle. “Yeah. I can see that.” 

“And here.” Touya’s right hand began to massage Shindou’s arm, gripping and releasing his shoulder and biceps with a slow building rhythm. “I assume that you’re anticipating a running fight.” Touya’s hand finally came to rest over Shindou’s chest, Shindou’s nipple, drawing up firm with anticipation. “You’ll need to be careful not to overextend your play here.” 

“Uh huh,” Shindou mumbled, trying to ignore the tightening electric arousal building in his belly. And elsewhere. He had a ko fight to win. And then they would… 

He idly stroked the raised seam of Touya’s trousers where it pulled tight along his inner thigh, thinking, considering his options. Then he reached forward with his free hand to type at the keyboard. 

rhino-boy: 23 definitely looks better there. 

nandi: ok. we get 4 now. 

rhino-boy: still too high. but it doesn’t matter. 

Then Shindou keyed in his move. 

“What are you doing Shindou?” Touya was silent a moment and then grinned with understanding. “Very nice. That’s a beautiful hand!” Touya’s arm tightened around Shindou, taking him in a close embrace. “That must be why the computer’s estimate was still high.” 

Shindou shrugged modestly, pleased by Touya’s unqualified praise, a rare thing. “The hand looked too good not to play.” 

“But you lost the ko.” And as Touya spoke the words, the monitor showed Nandi’s move, black taking the ko, ending the fight. 

nandi: you lost the ko rhino-boy. are you sure that you’re paying attention? 

nandi: hui ying was expecting two more hands. 

Shindou slowly pecked at the keys with a finger: 

rhino-boy: you’re the one not paying attention. guess nandi knows better than you do. 

 

* * * * * 

 

“You know, I could get used to playing like this.” Shindou slowly fondled the growing hardness he discovered in Touya’s pants. He waited for Touya’s response, willing to let him decide if they did more or not. 

Touya answered him, rocking back into Shindou’s caress. “It would certainly add a new dimension to pair-go games.” 

Shindou laughed and grabbed Touya with gentle forcefulness. “Only if we were paired together.” 

“But then who would dare play us? The rising stars of the Japanese Go world.” 

Shindou chuckled under his breath knowing that Touya mockingly quoted a recent newspaper article. 

“Rising something alright.” 

Shindou typed in his next move while fingering the zipper to Touya’s pants. 

“Shindou…” Touya’s hand caught uncertainly at Shindou’s as he started to pull on the zipper. 

Shindou realized then he wanted more now, more than a little heated groping. Something primitive and raw urged him on. Something connected to the game. Something that seemed necessary… 

“Touya, I figure a little hands-on experimentation has got to be better than just looking at some pictures.” 

Shindou moved his hand out from under Touya’s unresisting hand and unzipped his pants, lightly stroking Touya’s erection through his shorts. He imagined the heat he felt burning through the thin cotton material spreading up through his skin, to the nerves of his finger tips, lighting every connected nerve like a fuse, rushing through his body. 

It felt really good. 

It felt dangerous. 

Shindou then ran his finger tips up along Touya’s cock until he came to the elastic band of his underwear. Skipping over the boundary, he teased the skin of Touya’s stomach, itching along that velvety border between smooth cloth and smoother skin. 

nandi: take a look at 46. better for the fight in the upper left corner? 

Shindou enjoyed chasing the slight tremors he felt rippling under Touya’s skin as he traced spiraling patterns over his sensitive stomach, reaching up under his shirt then dragging his fingers down to rim his belly button. 

Reluctantly he pulled his hand away to type his answer, taking Touya’s right hand up in his left, interlacing their fingers: 

rhino-boy: still working on 23. a lot of possibilities. working through a couple now with touya. 

Shindou felt Touya pinch his arm in protest. “Quit fooling around Shindou. Hurry up and finish.” 

Shindou let go of Touya’s hand and suddenly reached over to pull Touya’s shorts down pass the curve of his ass, Touya’s erection coming free, a stiff curving thing, beautiful and needy. Shindou turned his head to breathe moistly on its shiny head. 

“I think that this might be what Yang-san’s research is missing Touya.” He turned the chair so that he could pull Touya between his legs, stretching both legs out, trapping Touya’s legs between his own. “Yang-san is just copying positions out of a book. There’s nothing really alive there. I think it’s possible that he would get better results if he actually considered the whole process. From start to finish. You know someone once told me that there’s a difference between just copying moves and really understanding the true flow of the game.” 

“And who told you that Shindou?” Touya’s hands were clutching Shindou’s shoulders now with an aroused strength as he leaned over Shindou, his legs shaky and unsteady, his erection inches from Shindou’s mouth. 

“A wise friend, Touya. A very wise friend.” Shindou glanced over at the monitor, comparing the image superimposed over the go board with the reality he held captive between his thighs. He ran his hand over the short wiry hairs on Touya’s leg. Up over the warm fleshy curve of his ass. Along the velvet parting between the quivering muscles. He reached up with his other hand to cup Touya’s balls gently, weighing them in the palm of his hand. That Touya would really let him do this, let him expose him here in this room, let him do this while they played Go with two other players in the room next door or the next… 

Only one thing that he could think to do to reward this gift… this trust… 

 

* * * * * 

 

Yang knocked discretely on the door before opening it. He wasn’t surprised to find the room empty. He sat down at his computer and eyed the dialog that was still displayed in the text box: 

nandi: you still there rhino-boy? 

nandi: rhino-boy? 

nandi: like that last move. do you think 26 is a good match? 

nandi: hey rhino-boy! nandi says that last move looks like 10 points. hui ying is cursing over here. 

nandi: did you get a chance to look at 26? 

nandi: rhino-boy? 

nandi: rhino-boy? 

nandi: rhino-boy? 

Hui Ying finally resigned and stormed out of their room. Nandi and Hui Ying had lost the game to Shindou by 15 points. Yang decided to wait until sometime later the next day to chase her down so that they could start coding the new data into the engine algorithm. He was still hoping to get a little more out of Shindou but it was a good start and he held the reasonable expectation that he could talk Shindou into playing even more games with Nandi. Shindou understood now. He knew. This was all just the beginning. 

Yang shut the computer down and was reaching over to turn the desk lamp off when he spotted the kifu lying on the floor under the desk. It looked like it was done in black crayon, probably the only thing that Shindou could find lying around as Yang had hidden all his sharper writing instruments some time ago, after Hui Ying put a hole in his wall after a “discussion” about a bit of programming. 

He kept a box of crayons around now for Hui Ying to use as she drew out long strings of code, working through the logical syntaxes of the complex algorithm. Her work was actually very pretty, beautiful even as Hui Ying discovered the advantages of working in color… tangerines for subject lines, cobalt blues for decision trees, line green for return vectors… a rainbow of computational codes… 

Shindou’s game record, on the other hand, was a bit smudged and the numbers for the moves hard to read. Luckily, the server had automatically recorded the game. 

Something that Shindou had to know. So why take the time to draw out the kifu with a blunt, waxy crayon? 

Yang sat back down at the desk and began to read through the kifu. He followed it well enough through middle game but then came across a hand that he couldn’t remember being played. Several moves after that were different as well. He turned his computer back on and downloaded a copy of the game to compare it more carefully with Shindou’s hand drawn draft. 

There were differences. And as Yang read through Shindou’s copy, he realized what it was that Shindou had done. He had written out an alternate game that continued along a different path than the one he had played against Nandi. A very different game. And as Yang continued to read, he felt the palms of his hands become sweaty. He layed the paper down carefully on his desk, knocking aside several notebooks so that he could lay the game record flat. 

It was a brilliant game. Astoundingly beautiful. A perfect balance of give and take that was theoretically suppose to take place on the board during the game. Every hand had a kind of poetry. Every shape spoke of deep reading skills as well as a love and understanding for the game. 

Beautiful. 

It was simply beautiful. 

Yang was nearly in tears as he noted the numerical notations written in the margins…12, 22, 23, 24, 35 and more. He looked for his copy of the karma sutra that he had showed Shindou earlier and cross-checked the numbers with the positions illustrated in the book… love’s fusion, driving the peg home, kama’s wheel… they were all there. Shindou had identified eight new positions in all, each describing a different stage of the game, this perfect game he held in his hands. 

Yang briefly reconsidered calling Hui Ying and sharing this with her but decided that the telling could wait until later. Waking her in the middle of the night was something that he knew that he shouldn’t do twice. At least in this lifetime. 

But… 

He smiled and carefully placed the kifu between two pages of the book and turned off the desk lamp before making his way to bed in the dark. It could all wait for the morning, a time for new beginnings. 

 

owari


End file.
